FIELD ATTACHMENT REPORT

MERU UNIVERSITY

OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

SCHOOL OF BUSINESS MANAGEMENT

DEPARTMENT OF BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS

A REPORT ON SUPERVISED

INDUSTRIAL ATTACHMENT AT TIGANIA EAST SUBCOUNTY

SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT OFFICES

PRESENTED BY:

KARANI MARTIN MWIRICHIA

REG. NO: BS104/1232/15

                                                                          DATE: 11/1/2017

DECLARATION

STUDENT: KARANI MARTIN MWIRICHIA

I hereby declare that this report on the industrial attachment at Tigania east Sub county offices and presented to Meru University of science and technology, school of business management, department of business economics as a partial fulfillment of the requirement for the award of Diploma in purchasing and supplies management is the outcome of my investigation.

NAME: KARANI MARTIN MWIRICHIA

REG. NO:BS104/1232/15

                                   ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Many individuals have contributed to the fruition of my Diploma studies and in extension, the attachment component. To them I owe a debt of thanks for their support, moral or otherwise-in seeing me through. First and for most, I am deeply indebted to the Tigani East Sub-county offices staff for their tireless lesson to me, both in the field and office. My sincere gratitude is equally extended to Mr. Gakuha the head of procurement department and Mrs. Charity Naita the assistant procurement officer whose advice and guidance have been timeless. The support received from HR manager Mr. S.Kirimi, Mr. Okoth the D.O and the entire staff is immensely appreciated. I must also thank the current staff of Business Management of Meru University of Science and Technology, for their organized supervision and mentorship during the entire period of my studies.

Finally, sincere thanks are due to my family for their support, encouragement and perseverance during the entire length of my studies.

                                     PREFACE

The need for an industrial attachment creates the need for any discerning student to create a clear picture of what he/she has done in the form of writing a report

This report contains information which was gathered during my three months of industrial attachment at Tigania East sub county supply chain management offices.

This include the activities carried out at the Tigania East sub county supply chain management offices, the activities I undertook, experience obtained and personal inputs.                    

                                                  

INTRODUCTION

This report has been developed with the view of detailing the activities carried out at Tigania East Sub County Supply Chain Office, during the months of September to December 2016. It details the background information on the inception of the organization. Also included in the report is detailed write up of the actual work and experiences gained both at the office and during the field work, a detailed description of the area of specialization and its relevance to the supply chain management in Kenya. The data that has been used for the report covers the period up to December 2016.

Tigania East Sub-county supply chain management office came into existence in 2010 the regional office of supply chain management is found at Muriri market at District headquarters offices.

MAIN FRAME OF THE REPORT

Tigania East Sub-county offices are a regional headquarter established in July 2010 under provision of the devolved government in Kenya.

The Tigania East sub county office serves as a centre of administration headed by the District county commissioner; it serves both Tigania east and Tigania central administration issues. The sub county offices were divided into various departments from the national to regional level. The departments included are as follows:

a)      The supply chain management department.

b)      The human resource department.

c)       ICT and database management office.

d)      The accounts department.

e)       Social welfare department.

f)         Stores department.

I was attached at the supply chain department for the internship the procurement department also controlled the flow of items and commodities in and out of the store due to the limited procurement activities in the sub county level.

GENERAL ACTIVITIES UNDERTAKEN IN THE ORGANISATION

a)       Identification of needs from user departments in the organization for the purpose of centralizing the purchasing activity. The procurement identified the need from other departments by requesting them to quote the items that they require in their offices, after the need is identified the head of department carries out the purchasing activity centrally together with his or her team mates.

b)       Performing procurement activities, that is vendor search and purchasing the items needed and ensuring public procurement procedures are well followed.

c)        Inspection of delivered goods for the purpose of ensuring proper quality and ensuring that goods delivered coincides with the purchase order.

d)       Maintaining proper records of good in the store for the purpose of accountability in case of theft.

e)       Controlling the flow of commodities in and out of the store, that is issuing and storage of goods delivered.

f)         Disposal of obsolete or worn out items. The procurement head is supposed to collect the list of all items that requires disposal from other organization’s department.

SPECIFIC ACTIVITIES UNDERTAKEN AT THE ORGANISATION

For the entire period of training at Tigania East Sub county supply chain department, I was exposed to opportunities of expanding my knowledge in the field of procurement and supply chain management especially in maintaining the flow of goods in and out of the organization, acquisition of goods, identification of needs, supplier search, maintaining inventory records and inspection of goods. And during the three months period of training, I managed to acquire practical knowledge in the following areas:

a)       Learned various activities and documents used in the procurement and in the stores.

b)      Learned how to fill the LPO register.

c)       Learned how payments are processed after the procurement activities and issued to the seller/ supplier.

d)      Learned to calculate and regulate various stock levels at different times.

e)      Learned the public procurement oversight act and the procedures followed during a public procurement.

f)        Learned the public procurement and disposal act, how items should be disposed and how to calculate the depreciation rate.

g)       Learned how goods flow from the stores to various departments.

h)      Learned how the disposal of assets is made when they become obsolete or worn out.

i)         While at attachment I gained skills on how to handle various commodities depending on their nature.

j)         Data entry in the data base for easier retrieval.

Activities and documents used in procurement

On the inception of my training, I was attached to the stores where i was acquainted with knowledge of the duties carried out ranging from purchase order, delivery of goods, inspection, payment, maintaining inventory records, issue of items to the storekeeper for storage and all the documents involved. All the procedure involved are essential, first the need is identified from the other organization departments, then the purchase order is made by the procurement officer, when good have been bought they need to be inspected to check whether they are of the right standard or whether they coincide with the local purchase order. One is required to examine goods as per the delivery note to ensure that the goods delivered are not in shortage or in excess in terms of quantity. After inspection the goods are then recorded to respective bin cards (bin cards are documents that a single item is recorded to show the exact quantity delivered, the issuing and the balances remaining in the stores) so as to know their flow later. The items are recorded to the counter receive voucher so as to process the payments to the seller of the goods, finally the goods are then taken to the stores ready for the issuing to the user departments.

Filling LPO register

After the purchase have been made and goods delivered the copy of LPO is filled to the LPO register for the purpose of retrieval and accountability, for instance it serves as an evidence that a certain purchase was made at a particular period of time and the items involved.

Processing payments

The payment is done immediately after the goods have been delivered into the organization. The head of procurement in partnership with the head of accounts department makes the payment of the goods delivered or the services offered.

Maintaining stock levels

 While in training I acquired various techniques of regulating stock levels, to avoid overstocking and under stocking of materials, the management of has to decide about the maximum level, minimum level, re-order level, danger level and average level of materials to be kept in store.

a)       Re-ordering level: it’s also known as ordering level/ ordering point/ ordering limit. It’s a point at which order for supply of material should be made. This level is fixed somewhere between the maximum level and the minimum level in such a way that the quantity of materials represented by the difference between the re-ordering level and the minimum level will be sufficient to meet the demands of production till such time as the material are replenished. It depends mainly on the maximum rate of consumption. When this level is reached, the store keeper will initiate the purchase requisition.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

Re-order level=maximum rate of consumption X

                            Maximum lead time

b)       Maximum level: it’s the level above which stock should never reach its also known as maximum limit/ maximum stock. The relevance of maximum stock is to avoid unnecessary blocking up of capital in inventories

Maximum stock level=reordering level +reordering quantity

c)        Minimum level: it represents the lowest quantity of a particular material below which stock should not be allowed to fall. This level must be maintained at every time so that production is not held up due to shortage of any material.

Minimum level=re-ordering level – (normal consumption rate x normal delivery period)          

d)       Average stock level: it’s determined by averaging the minimum and maximum level of stock.

Average level=1/2 (minimum stock level+ minimum stock level)

e)       Danger level: is the level below which the stock should under no circumstance be allowed to fall. Danger level is slightly below the minimum level and therefore the purchases manager should make special efforts to acquire to acquire materials in store.

Public procurement oversight authority and the procedures of public procurement

While in training I learnt the public procurement oversight authority, it dictates how any public procurement should be carried out; it contains clearly stated guidelines and procedures to be used during procurement activity. It also states the terms and conditions one should adhere to during the procurement.

The procurement cycle or procedure is as follows as stated by PPOA.

a)       The need is identified from the user departments.

b)       The procurement manager sorts out to find out whether the organization is financially able to fund the purchase.

c)        The procurement sends a document by the name RFQ to various suppliers for them to quote the prices of the listed commodities.

d)       The procurement officer then chooses the best supplier and sends purchase order to request him or her to supply the products.

e)       The supplier supplies the goods, and then the procurement officer inspects the goods as per the purchase order and the delivery note.

f)         After the inspection the procurement officer processes the payment, and supplier is paid for delivery of his or her goods.

REPORT ON ACTIVITIES CARRIED OUT DURING ATTACHMENT PERIOD.

During the attachment period I engaged myself in a number of activities which I employed my skills for the benefit of the organization.

Below is a list of the activities that I engaged into:

a)      Identifying the needs

While in training I worked hand in hand with my supervisor so as to gain competency in my area of specialization. I helped in collecting needs from the other user departments for the purpose of centralizing the purchases.

b)      Filling the local purchase order register.

The supervisor delegated this task to me; I helped in filling the LPO register. I recorded each and every local purchase order to the LPO register I was exposed to various methods of retrieving information for accountability reasons.

c)       Inspection of goods.

While at training I enhanced knowledge, I engaged myself in inspecting goods delivered to the organization by this I realized the relevance of inspection of goods. Some goods were underweight while others were of low quality, inspection immediately after delivery helped to trace all those goods that were not of the right quality and standard. Inspection also helps to determine whether the goods delivered are of the right quantity as per the ordered quantity. Faulty items are discovered in time hence decisions are made in time to avoid losses.

d)      Data entry into database.

This is the process whereby raw data is keyed into the computer systems for the purpose of storage and retrieval. During the attachment period I helped in typing raw data to computer systems, I gained experience in typing and using computer systems to store data.

e)       Vendor search.

This is the process of searching for a competent, reliable and a right source to buy items or to seek services. Through this activity I gained knowledge about the qualities of a good supplier or seller:

                            i.               Has the value for money.

                         ii.               He is reliable.

                       iii.               His deliveries are always in time.

                       iv.               He has a competent and qualified staff

                         v.               Offers his commodities at a fair cost.

                       vi.               Has the right quality.

The above are some of the qualities I identified through the activity. A qualified and competent supplier is attained by issuing requests for quotation (RFQ) to different suppliers and then they submit back after quoting their prices, you select the supplier with the best price.

f)        Maintaining inventory records.

During the training period I employed skills to maintaining the proper inventory record to ensure that the organization does not make excess purchases or have shortage of stock, which reduces the amount of capital held in stock and disruption in operation.

g)      Storage of goods in the store.

While at attachment I learned various ways to handle different types of goods depending on their nature, some goods needs special care while handling them they might be hazardous or delicate. I enhanced my know how through engaging in such activity and in the benefit of the organization.

WEAKNESS IN PERFORMANCE OF TIGANIA EAST SUBCOUNTY SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT OFFICE

ABBREVIATIONS:

T.E.S.C.S.C.M-TIGANIA EAST SUBCOUNTY SUPPLY CHAIN MGT

TESCSCM ensures proper management and proper flow of items throughout the entire organization, for the current and future needs of the organization. However it does not have all the data necessary and resources, because of inadequate information and flow of activities the planning component of TESCSCM’s function is weak. The planning does not seem to have been placed in its appropriate priority and capacity for this is underdeveloped.

Understaffing has also viciously hampered the performance of TESCSCM. A good example is insufficient commodities and less employees in the organization, indeed the amount of work that is expected to be handled in the procurement and store department is far much than to be handled by one staff. This is also alike across other departments in the organization

SUGGESTION FOR IMPROVEMENT OF TESCSCM

a)      Financial self-sufficiency of operations

The current gap between revenues and expenditure, given the apparent aims of also financing some obsolete and non-functioning infrastructure within TESCSCM has led to great financial strains for TESCSCM.  TESCSCM needs to make progress towards self-financing to realize the effective management of the departments in the organization.

b)      Building staff capacity

  A glaring of inefficiency, incompetence and ignorance of staff was noticed during my attachment period, insufficient knowledge and outright dalliance in the execution of duties, some of the staff had little to no knowledge of their roles, while others lacked the proper information technology skills to aid in handling of assignments. Moreover understaffing was serious problem in most departments more so in procurement department, the procurement officer was still running the stores department. More must be done to recruit able, motivated and well educated individuals to execute duties.

  SUMMARY   AND CONCLUSION

The industrial attachment is good for students more so, personally I appreciate the chance of attending the field attachment program from September to December 2016. The program helped me in enhancing and expanding my knowledge through the exposure, to learn how thing work and operate practically apart from the theory in class the field attachment helps one to gain skills and practical bit of his studies.

In conclusion the supervised industrial attachments gives student the opportunity to apply knowledge in the real work, exposing the students to work method not taught in the class and provide access to products equipment not available in the intuitions well as assessing students’ interests in the occupation he/she undertakes.

Undoubtedly, the impact of this attachment has made me gain some practical knowledge and experiences in my field of stud (procurement) as well as enriching me with the interaction with the business world. It also instilled in me some more integrity especially punctuality, being submissive to and taking the views of superiors, more tolerant, respectful and hardworking, the programme should therefore be maintained and the period extended.

Since the attachment is supervised programme, visiting supervisors should please visit students on their places of attachment to ensure proper assessment of students.